Idina Menzel Struggled Financially After 'Rent' — Here's How She Found Security

From Prevention

• Idina Menzel, best known for her starring roles in Wicked and Frozen, struggled financially when her Broadway debut in Rent ended in 1997.

• The singer, who recently partnered with the investment firm BlackRock, gained more peace of mind over her finances by making smart investments.

• Menzel now has a net worth of $10 million and is primed to see major success with Disney's upcoming Frozen 2, in theaters this November.
  

Six years after Disney's Frozen hit the theaters, fans are finally getting a sequel to one of the top ten highest-grossing movies to date. And who better to speak with leading up to the premiere of Frozen 2 than Idina Menzel, who plays the film's iconic character, Elsa?

"Frozen 2 is going to be incredibly powerful," Idina Menzel told Prevention.com. "The characters really evolve and go on a long, difficult journey to figure out who they are."

"Elsa does not apologize for who she is and represents the incredible power all women have inside of us that we're sometimes afraid to use," Menzel continued. "People will call strong women too aggressive or angry when they speak their minds, and I love that Elsa transforms her power and magic into a tool to make the world a better place."

While the Tony-award-winning star is very successful today, she's still had to overcome obstacles in her career, like making ends meet after her Broadway debut in Rent ended and being dropped from her record label in the late '90s.

Here's how Menzel went from struggling financially to financial security.

She lost momentum-and a big pay check-after Rent

A Long Island native, Menzel began her career as a wedding and bar mitzvah singer on the East Coast. "I always had a healthy opinion of where I wanted to end up in my career," she said. "I had the sense that I was going to move on to performing in front of bigger audiences, but I knew I had a great learning opportunity with those kid of gigs."

In 1996, the star landed her breakout role as Maureen in Rent. The musical was a smash hit with a 12-year run on Broadway and earned several Tony awards. Menzel had a steady paycheck all along, but when the show closed its curtains, the singer said she struggled financially.

"It was really interesting to me to have been someone back in Rent days to have a big pay check struggling with money," she said. "It was disheartening."

Mendel struggled for the next few years, until she had the opportunity to play Elphaba in Wicked, "but I had to really fight for the role," she said. "Having lost the momentum I had before, I knew I needed this special momentum." Of course, these days she's synonymous with Defying Gravity.

She's learned how to invest in financial wellbeing

Now that Menzel is financially secure (hello, $10 million net worth!), she's not letting her money burn a hole in her pocket. The star recently partnered with the global investment firm BlackRock for a video project called Defining Factors.

BlackRock's new webinar series looks at how top advisors use factors like quality, value, and momentum to help predict outcomes and secure financial success. Menzel compared these investment factors to a successful performance. "I feel like the components of a great performance are the balance between science and art," she's seen saying in the video. "Science for me meaning technique, performance, training, endurance, stamina, discipline."

"Music has structure that can move you," adds Andrew Ang, PhD, head of factor investing at BlackRock. "Investments and numbers, they're all about those patterns too."

Today, she's using her investments to ensure that she'll always have a safety net. "For the first time in life, I can take some money and put it away," she said. "It was fascinating to sit down and see how much work is put into advising people about their finances."

And with her investments working around the clock, she can focus on the fun stuff: Like promoting Frozen 2, out this November. We can't wait to see what Elsa has in store.

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